The First Big Snow

It snowed in the mountains. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday we got snow. Abasin Ski Resort opened on Monday, so Stan, Kel and I dropped Casey off at Kathy's house then hit the slopes on Monday. Only 1 run is open and it was a little icy, but it was exciting to finally get back on our boards! Stan and Kel went again on Tuesday and then Stan and I went on Wednesday.


Stan finished the project he has been on for the last 5 years and is now home. We're still in transition, but it's been real nice having help and company.

Last Sunday, the town of Silverthorne had a "Pumpkin Patch" and Trick or Treating at the Outlets. Casey was excited to get dressed up in her witch costume. She wasn't very into trick or treating, until she realized she got candy. She wanted to open everything she got immediately. Her favorite, pink tootsie rolls. Friday, she got to dress up again for her daycare's Halloween party. Saturday, again the witch costume was worn to her friend Connor's birthday party. And then tonight, we ended October with trick or treating on Main St. in Frisco. Casey was very into saying trick or treat and getting her candy. The witch costume was a hit.

On Friday, we started a new tumbling session and at the beginning of the class, the kids were running around crazy and Casey and a little boy ran into each other...which happens quite often. Unfortunately, his head ended up hitting her right below the eye and her eye turned black and blue and a bump formed immediately. So, Casey has her first black eye.

Casey is doing great in school. She now walks into class on her own, turns to me to give her a kiss and hug, then goes off to play. "I go to school today...I don't cry." We've been working on her colors and her numbers for a while now and she is pretty good at them. She can count up to 10 on her own. She knows her numbers up to 20, just gets them mixed up a bit, but if I say a number, she can usually pick the next number. Her coloring has gotten better too. She'll actually color the pictures on the paper instead of just scribbling all over the paper. The other day she was coloring on a blank piece of paper and when I asked what she was drawing, she told me "a sailboat, a baby sailboat and a bird." She is saying days of the week and using yesterday, today and tomorrow. She uses yesterday a lot, even if she is talking about something that happened a few minutes ago.

Another quote:

Mommy: "You are going to Rowan's to play, while Daddy, Aunt Kel and Mommy go to the gym."
Casey (almost about to cry): "I can't drive your car mommy!"

Happy Halloween to everyone!!
Casey also wants to send out a belated Happy Birthday to Uncle Stuart! And a farewell for now and good luck to Aunt Kel, who flies back to Virginia for the month of November. Thanks for playing with us.

 Dillon, Connor and Casey

 Snuggling with Buffalo Daddy

 "I'm a scary witch, look at my beautiful dress."

 witch, elephant and eyore

 sleeping in her big girl bed

the black eyed witch

School Pictures

Vegas Baby

No post for 2 weeks again. Maybe I'm more of an every other week kind of poster. Sorry!

Casey is still sleeping in her big girl bed and is very good at it. She doesn't get out of it, just waits until we come to get her. She even asked if she could get out of bed before getting out this morning when I walked in her room. What a good kid! Tuesday, she asked to go pee pee in the potty and then later looked at me with a weird expression. I asked if she had to go potty and she said yes, and after a few minutes of sitting there, she went #2 on the potty.  Let's hope she's potty trained by her birthday!

Last week, we kicked off October by coloring pumpkins.  Casey was very into it and colored 3 of them. Aunt Kel came back to town Wednesday, after a trip to Virginia. Thursday, I met Stan at the airport and we flew to Vegas with our friends, Steve and Stacia, for a long weekend. While we became familiar with "The Strip," Casey hung out with Aunt Kel or as Casey calls her, "My Kelly." They kept very busy, going to tumbling, to the pool, to the playground, to dinner with our neighbors, Sean, Kathy, Dillon & Connor. Monday, they ventured to a Pumpkin Patch and playground in Boulder before picking me up at the airport. Supposedly, Casey and Frisco were very well behaved. Thanks Aunt Kel!!

*Aunt Kel (with Frisco breathing her sticky breath in Kelly's face, Kel looks at Casey with a grossed out look on her face): "What's that smell, it smells like fish?"
*Casey (kind of offended): "It's not me Kelly!"

Casey went to school this Wednesday and for the second week in a row, she walked into class without clinging to me and after a kiss and big hug, she walked into the play area a little timid, but without any sort of crying.

Enjoy the pix!

picking a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch with aunt kel

wonder who won?

children of the corn



Cheese



Aren't I Cute

Coloring her pumpkin



Happy Halloween!



Big Girl Bed

Last week flew by.  I got strep throat, so it wasn't a great week for me.  Casey went to tumbling with Daddy on Friday.  Sunday, we went to Breckenridge for Oktoberfest.  Casey rode the alpine slide down the lower slope on Peak 8, jumped in the moon bounce and later danced to the Oktoberfest band.

This past week, I am feeling much better.  Thursday, we went to Denver for book club.  Mark and Andy took Casey to the playground while I got to hang with the ladies.  Thanks guys!  Friday was tumbling, more like run crazy for 45 minutes.  Sunday we went hiking along Rock Creek to Boss Mine.  Casey was great.  She rode in the backpack most of the time, but was also able to hike a little on her own.

The big news...Casey is now sleeping in a big girl bed.  Last weekend we put the child safety bar and a new comforter on the double bed in her room.  She started taking naps in it over the weekend.  By Monday, she was asking to sleep in the big girl bed, so we tried letting her sleep overnight in the big girl bed all last week and she's been great.  She sleeps well and stays in her bed until we come to get her.  Next step, potty training.  Yikes!

Picture day at her school is tomorrow.  Let's hope we get a good one!

 Go Hokies!

 The aspens are amazing right now

 Casey hiking with her new camelback backpack

 Frisco and Casey cheesing it up

 hiking with mommy

Showing off her new pink heart glasses

Labor Day Week and More

What a busy couple of weeks.  Casey and I flew to Virginia on the 1st of September.  We dropped Casey off at Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom's house and they headed to the lakehouse for the weekend with Aunt Marcy, Uncle Stuart, Jack and Lily.  Casey had a blast running crazy with her cousins. 

Stan and I headed to Glacier National Park in Montana for Kirsi and Konlee's wedding.  The views flying in are amazing.  We rented a boat on Flathead Lake, did a quick hike up to Avalanche Lake inside the park, and of course enjoyed the wedding at Apgar Ampitheater and the reception at Green Valley Ranch.  The park is beautiful, we look forward to going back again soon.

We all spent the following week in VA.  Monday was the VT/Boise St game at FedEx Field.  Grandma & Grandpa kept Casey while we went to the exciting but disappointing game.  Tuesday, Casey and I got to picked Lily up at the bus stop.  She is now in Kindergarten and seems to love it!  We visited Jessica and her youngest, Jake on Wednesday.  Thursday, we met up with Aunt Marcy, Lily and Jack to go Apple Picking in MD.  Unfortunately, Casey was in a bit of a mood that day, so there was a lot of whining and crying and disciplining going on, but we made it and did enjoy some moments.  Casey ate a few apples and assisted Lily in feeding the goats some grass/weeds.  Friday, Grandpa Tom took gave me some flying lessons.  Though I was a bit rusty at first (made the plane take a short cut down a small grassy hill to get to the runway), I got better as the morning went on and I am now an expert at turns, 360's and take offs (at least in my eyes).  Next lesson, landings.

Friday we drove down to Roanoke to visit Gramma Lois.  We all went to the VT/JMU game in Blacksburg.  It poured down rain the whole game.  Casey was great!  She watched the whole 1st quarter, slept through the 2nd quarter and half time, woke for the 3rd quarter.  We left early because of the rain and got to listen to the loss on the radio.  Nuff said.

We're back in Dillon now.  Casey was a good little traveler, but was definitely ready to get back home.  She is quite the talker.  She loves trying to join in on conversation and she'll come out with words and sayings that are definitely influenced by Mom.  She's starting to be interested in playing with other kids.  At the playground on Tuesday, she found a little girl who was younger than her and went and sat by her and "petted" her (Casey's words, "Mom, I'm petting the little girl.") and kept saying, "awwww" and giving her awkward hugs.  She would go play on something, then say, "I need to go see the little baby girl."  She can do a somersault all by herself now.  She perfected them at Gramma Lois' house.  Looking forward to tumbling on Friday!

A belated Happy Birthday to cousin Lily who turned 6 on Sept 10th!!

Enjoy the pix.

Me and Kristi on Flathead Lake in Montana

Doing the bear "Roar" at Avalanche Lake inside Glacier National Park

The wedding was at the Apgar Ampitheater inside the park on Lake McDonald.

Our camera does not do the views justice.

Apple picking with Lily and Jack

Tasting the goods

Tantrum. 

After about 30 minutes of apple picking,

she decided she didn't want to walk on the ground with the smooshed apples.

Hanging with her cousins, eating apples

I'm a sucker for these cutouts

At the Hokies game in Blacksburg in her rain poncho.  She yells, "Go Hokies, Go Hokie Bird."

Two Weeks in August

It's been two weeks since our last blog. We've been busy at home! Casey has been back at school and having fun with all her friends and teachers. On the 20th we went to WaterWorld in Denver with Sarah, Rowan and Kristi. Everyone had a blast! And there were plenty of slides that the girls were allowed to go on. There was also a great toddler area with a shallow pool, fountains, slides, splash area and more. Unfortunately, the camera I brought did not have a memory card, so no pix:(

That following Saturday, Stan ran in the first annual Warrior Dash at Copper Mountain. A 3.27 mile run/obstacle course. He had to jump over cars, climp a haystack, run through tires, run up the mountain and down the mountain, crawl through a mud pit, climp over a wall and jump over fire. He got muddy and a little beat up, but he had a good time doing it! Thank goodness he survived, because he was in charge of kids that night, while I had "book club" at the house.

This weekend we went hiking around Cataract Lake in Heeney, which is about 30 minutes from us, near Green Mountain Reservoir. The hike was amazing!!

Aunt Kel is still living with us. So we've been trying to keep her entertained. We have all been playing some tennis lately. We have all improved our games a whole lot since the first day.

Casey quote:
Mommy putting bananas around her breakfast instead of in the syrup: "How's that?"
Casey: "it's perfect!"

Casey is still VERY two! She is testing me and aunt kel and stan constantly. Tonight as we were walking she kept saying, "Mommy, no talking. Mommy, stop talking!" She is spending more and more time in "time-out" or her crib, which she seems to prefer sometimes, instead of apologizing or agreeing to obey Mommy. Hoping this phase will end quickly:)

Enjoy the pix and video.

Eating breakfast with bear

Stan at the start line of the Warrior Dash

Stan, the one in the white shirt, running the tires at the Warrior Dash

Finished the Warrior Dash...a bit muddy

Casey...ready for fishing or biking...whatever comes first

hiking Cataract Lake...there is a waterfall in the background

Casey got to get out of the backpack and hike with Mommy and Stacia

Cuts & Bruises

This week, Casey went canoing twice!  Once with Mommy and Aunt Kel on Friday, then again with Mommy and Daddy on Sunday.  We found a nice beach on one of the islands in Lake Dillon.  Casey had fun riding in the canoe and playing on the beach.

Saturday we went on a bike ride to Frisco for Music on Main Street.  Casey loves her bike carrier and is very good at keeping herself entertained during the ride.  We met up with Sarah, Brian and Rowan, listened to some music, ate some dinner, then biked home at sunset. 

Monday night, we went to open tumbling at the rec center.  Casey and Rowan were the only kids who showed up, which was fine with them.  They got to play on their normal tumbling obstacle course stuff and then they got to jump in a moon bounce and on a trampoline run.  Casey def had no problem falling asleep tonight.

Casey is a very active kid and has been quite the 2 year old this week.  The mean girl in her came out this week and she started saying "no" a lot more, so we are having to step up the discipline a bit. She's being very independent, "no i do it." She can put her crocs on herself and they usually make it on the correct feet.  She likes to run, but doesn't always watch where she is going, so her legs are a mess.  Both knees are scratched up and she has bruises up and down her legs.  She's pretty tough though.

Enjoy the pix!

Enjoying the day out on the lake

helping dad paddle

the view from the island

playing in the sand

fishing with daddy

July

We were back on the East Coast for the month of July. Aunt Kel caravaned east with us and was a big help with Casey and Frisco! 

The 4th of July and the following week, was spent at Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom's Lakehouse. Aunt Marcy, Uncle Stuart, Lily and Jack were there to play as well as our cousin Alex, Great Uncle Mike, Great Aunt Jeanne, Alli and Davis from KY. There was a lot of activity. Casey loved swimming in the water, jumping on the island (a big raft floating off the dock), riding on the sea doo's and swinging in the airplane and car swings. She also went kneeboarding (or in her mind..."snowboarding").

We then headed up to NOVA to see friends.  Casey got to play with lot's of kids.  We visited Jessica and her boys, Hunter and Jake at their house. She was frantic trying to play with each and every toy.  We went swimming with Stacey, her little girl, Cate and Dyani and her little boy, Harper. We went to Lily and Jack's pool, where all 3 kids went down the slide into the deep end over and over again. Casey has gotten very comfortable in the water, especially with her water wings on.  The wings have helped her learn to kick on her own...and she's starting to move her arms too.

We headed down to Roanoke for a weekend to visit Gramma Lois.  Casey had fun entertaining Gramma and a  good time at the new rec center splash park. 

We got back to Dillon, then headed out on our annual camping trip the last weekend of July.  It rained most of the weekend, but we did get to go hiking and canoeing, and Casey had a blast rain or shine.  We also stayed in our first B&B, right outside of St. Elmo ghost town, outside of Buena Vista.

Casey has gotten very verbal and very articulate. She talks non-stop, has lot's of questions and demands, wants you to "watch me" "look at me" and says "Mamma, Mommy, Mom" over and over. She has a lot of energy. She is good at playing on her own and loves to look through her books.

Sorry for no blog all month, but it was just too busy of a month!

Enjoy pix.

kneeboarding at lake gaston

on the way to va we stopped in ky to visit cousin wes, tricia, colin and leah

riding on the pontoon with grandma gail

frisco and casey pontooning

riding in the paddle boat with grandpa tom, jack and lily

riding the hot dog on land with her cousins

immediately after this picture, jack pressed the gas and the golf cart headed straight towards the lake...luckily, we were all gathered around and we stopped it in time:)

family portrait

grandparents with their grandkids

riding seadoo with daddy

july 4th weekend with wright family

lake kids

kneeboarding...or what casey calls it, "snowboarding"

we went flying over harpers ferry and along the shenandoah

swinging with hunter and jacob

walking frisco

 at gramma lois' rec center splash park

hiking near cottonwood lake outside of buena vista

more hiking pix

canoeing on cottonwood lake...casey slept most of the ride

cheese

Mary had a Little Lamp verse 2